9 Amazing Video Game Developers Killed Off By Their Publishers
8. Bizarre Creations
Founded: 1988
Defunct: 2011
What happened: Metropolis Street Racer, Project Gotham Racing, Geometry Wars: Bizarre Creations delivered some of the most consistently excellent entertainment throughout the noughties, a future that would surely only shine brighter under Activision's welcoming embrace, right?
That's a big fat no; Bizarre shuts its doors in 2010, following two hard-hitting disappointments: Blur and James Bond 007: Blood Stone.
Neither was an outright failure, but in Activision's eyes, Bizarre had lost its mojo. Former members of the defunct company, however, had a different opinion on the matter.
Former managing director Martyn Chudley let slip to Edge in 2011 that Activision couldn't help but thrust its nose in to oversee Blur's development, stifling morale and creativity.
We weren't an independent studio making 'our' games anymore - we were making games to fill slots. The culture we'd worked on for so long gradually eroded just enough that it wasn't 'ours' anymore."
Take note, publishers, if you're going to take ownership of a respected developer, respect them. Don't squander its talent on no-name projects cooked up only to fill a date on the calendar. What a shame.